Shane O'Brien has reportedly signed a 3/yr deal with Colorado

Shane has reportedly signed a 3 year deal with the Colorado Avalanche with an annual cap hit of $2 million.

The burly defenseman intends on earning every scent of the $6 million dollar he just signed and hopes to stick in Colorado. O'Brien has bounced around the NHL up to this point in his career with the Avalanche beings his 5th team. Both Shane and the Avalanche hope that this signing will bring stability for both parties and he will be asked to help usher in young defensemen like Tyson Barrie into the organization.

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He is in kind of the same situation as Angelo in that he has always had a lot of hype being the 3rd overall selection in 2004. Since being selected he has had declining numbers and value and now at the tender age of 26 it is time for him to put up or shut up if he gets an NHL contract. Otherwise he could be playing in europe.

Part 2: The Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2012 free agent market.

Today I will discuss who the Leafs should pursue this off season in the free agent market.

You can click here for how the Leafs roster should look after they have made their off season acquisitions.

I will start things off by saying that all the recent talk about Brian Burke quitting or getting fired is completely and utter BS. Yes he probably wants a contract extension and Yes if the Leafs fail to make the playoffs again in 2013 then he may well be a dead man walking. However until then BB's job is quite safe here in Toronto and I expect him to get his extension regardless of if the team makes the playoffs as long as they are developing good prospects.

The prospects that might buy him an extension would be Alex Galchenyuk and Nail Yakupov. As it has been reported today that Brian Burke is looking to obtain both somehow. This report comes from Yakupov and Galchenyuk's agent, the former great Red Wings player, Igor Larionov. So take this rumour for what it is, and that is just a rumour, as it could simply be a ploy by Larionov to make sure that his clients go one two in the draft this year.

But without further ado I will now present who should be on the Leafs radar in the Free Agent market this summer.

Leafs 2012 Free Agent Signings:

Ryan Suter

Age: 27Plays: DefenceCurrently makes: $3,500,000

Everybody knows that Ryan Suter is due for a raise this off-season from his $3.5 million deal that expires on July 1st. The question now is more; How much? What kind of terms? And where is he willing to go to get these?

I posit to Brian Burke that Ryan Suter is perhaps the most valuable free agent in the market this summer and would be a great fit on a Randy Carlyle team. Much the same way Chris Pronger was a great fit on the Anaheim Mighty Ducks team coached by Carlyle and built by Burke.